Aligning key performance indicators with strategic goals
Measuring progress on human rights is difficult. The outcomes that carry most weight – whether workers feel safe to raise concerns, if purchasing decisions are rewarding suppliers who invest in human rights or remedy is reaching the people who need it – don’t always lend themselves to simple quantification. Yet without some form of measurement, it is hard to know whether effort is translating into change, or where to focus resources next.
The field has historically defaulted to metrics that are easy to count: audits completed, training hours delivered, suppliers assessed. These have their place, but they measure activity rather than impact. A company can accumulate impressive numbers on all of them while conditions on the ground can remain fundamentally unchanged.
Better measurement starts with being clear about what you are actually trying to achieve. From there, it becomes possible to identify indicators – quantitative and qualitative – that tell you something meaningful about whether you are getting there. This includes leading indicators that signal progress before outcomes are fully visible, and lagging indicators that confirm whether change has been sustained over time.
How we help
We work with businesses to develop Key Performance Indicator (KPI) frameworks that are based on your business’s sustainability commitments, honest about what can and cannot be measured, grounded in the specific risks and relationships that exist in their supply chain or operations, and usable by the people responsible for implementation. We also support organisations responding to increasing pressure from investors, regulators or civil society to demonstrate – not just assert – that their human rights work is making a difference.
This is an area where we see significant variation in practice. Some organisations are further ahead than they realise; others are reporting on metrics that give a misleading picture of progress. We help companies understand where they stand and build a more robust set of performance metrics that align with their corporate commitments.
What this involves
- Assessment of existing human rights commitments
- KPI framework design for human rights and supply chain programmes
- Review and strengthening of existing metrics and reporting approaches
- Theory of change development
- Indicator design for specific issue areas – forced labour, living wage, freedom of association, remedy
- Guidance on qualitative measurement and worker voice as evidence
- Support for investor and regulatory reporting on human rights performance
- Internal reporting templates and dashboard design
